Free will- what is it all about?

Free will, pro-choice, freedom to choose, is it all the same thing?
What is you definition of “free will”? What does ”free will“ mean to you?
Does free will mean that we can do whatever we like or does it have limits and consequences?
Why did God give us “free will”?
Free will- what is it all about?
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To what would you compare "free will"?
Knife? If misused or not handled with care it can hurt us?
Automobile? Comes with a set of instructions and restrictions and needs to be driven wisely and with control?

'Free will' simply designates freedom of choice, to me.
It can get a bit sticky theologically though...God designed us (allegedly) with 'free will', yet He also allegedly knows what choices we are ultimately going to make before we make them (predestination) which begs the question, if the future is already written, how much 'free will' do we actually possess?
For an example:
I'm driving along. I come to an intersection. I can turn right, left, or go forward.
One of those directions leads to a car crash that is going to kill me.
It has already been predestined that I am going to die in that crash.
Therefore, I am going to go in the direction that leads me to it.
So if it is already written that I shall die there, how could I really have 'free will' to choose any other direction?

Thanks JJ for taking the time to give a thought-out comment. I don't have that dilemma as I don't believe the Bible teaches individual predestination but only class predestination such as the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous will inherit life everlasting in a paradise.
Matthew 7:13-14 (Authorized King James Version) 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
What is predestined is that those on the wide road would be destroyed and would be many, while those that have life would be on the narrow road and be few in comparison. However, the choice is up to us to choose the road we want.

Free will, well, I wonder about that. Yes we get to make decisions, true. Every decision we make though has a consequence. So free will to me, is having the right to decide, but being careful on what you decide.

@1hopefulman - I agree with @RubyHawk - we are free to speak our minds, but not to break the law. In addition, we should be free to pursue our own hobbies and interests, so long as they do not endanger other people ... which is the problem I have with people who want to collect dangerous weapons, such as assault weapons, stock pumps, large capacity ammo clips, etc.

Following on the religious theory of who and what God is and what free will entails requires a bit a thought. If you refuse the 'correct' path you face destruction. I ask you, where is the freedom in that?

Yes, to understand "free will" takes some thinking.
May I ask, why would one want to refuse the good path and prefer a bad path? Hitting my hand with a hammer hurts but not hitting it doesn't. Why choose to hit it?

@Namelesss I think it is all about love. God is love and created life. We are born and exist because of love. Our parents made "love" or somebody showed us love and cared for us when we were a baby. A baby cannot live without love. However, human love will only take us so far. We die and we cease to exist. It will take an act of love on God's part to resurrect or give life back to us.
But love can only exist if there is an absence of hate, Love builds up but hate kills and destroys. We must love God, ourselves and our neighbor if we want to continue to live. Love is a choice. Love if life. Eating is a choice but if we don't eat we die. If we don't love we die but it is a choice.
So it's all about love!

Yes, whether we will live by God's ways or not is a free choice we each have to make. God will not force us to love Him.
Since God is love, He cannot force us to love Him as love is only love when it is freely given.
Hosea 14:4 (King James Version) 4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

Free will is an interesting concept. I think it means that we are *supposed* to live a good life, be good to others etc... but we are free to choose different actions - thus making it more meaningful if we do choose good over wrong.

God has given us freedom of choice, we can decide what to do, but He also tells us what happens if we refuse to follow the advice he gives us in the Bible. He is like a loving Father, who wants his children to be safe and happy..

The world operates with God running it, ultimately so.
Pockets of it can be controlled or destined or changed by ourselves, and so we could say that we have some influence or pockets of free will in some limited areas only.
The rest is largely out of our control I think. It mostly runs in its own way.